Iceland: Visit The Land Of Fire And Ice Now

South of the Arctic Circle, the sun rises over the snow-topped mountains of Iceland, an island smaller than the state of Kentucky. Settled by Vikings 1,100 years ago, Iceland has only 320,000 residents, most of whom live in the capital, Reykjavik. But what it lacks in people, it more than makes up for in moss-covered lava fields, soaring mountains, cascading waterfalls, tubular basalt columns, sheep dotting the tundra (five sheep for each Icelander), pony-sized Icelandic horses grazing in wind-swept valleys, steamy hot springs, 130 active volcanoes, and 269 glaciers.

Icecaps cover 11% of Iceland, but they are receding at an ever-increasing rate, and if global warming continues, scientists say glaciers won’t be around by the year 2200. Wanting to visit this glacial paradise before they melt even more, I booked a trip with my favorite luxury travel design company, Nomad Hill. I knew that for the four days I could spare, they’d plan an extraordinary luxurious itinerary and hire the best guides to explain Iceland’s culture and history.

Helicopter flies above the geothermal fields of Iceland

Margie Goldmith

Oli, my guide/driver picked me up early in the morning at Reykjavik’s Airport (Reykjavik means ‘steamy bay’) and whisked me in a four-wheel-drive Super-Jeep to a sunrise geothermal helicopter tour. The chopper hovered over one of the most volcanic areas in Iceland, above steaming hot springs and glaciers. Suddenly the pilot landed, and we walked through the snow to where steaming streams cascaded down the mountain. “Skál,” he grinned as we clinked glasses of Prosecco. The only other sound was the hissing of the geothermal waters.

Author at helicopter.

Margie Goldsmith

Then we flew above the fishing and whaling boats in Reykjavik’s Old Harbour where fresh fish is delivered daily. We choppered over the famous Blue Lagoon, a geothermal man-made body of water with temperatures averaging from 99-102 °F and steam so thick I could barely make out the people.

Eighty percent of Icelanders believe in elves, trolls and ghosts which they call the hidden people and are said to live throughout the country. Residents acknowledge their presence by painting rocks with doors and creating small wooden houses in gardens.

Double Crater seen from Helicopter

Margie Goldsmith

We circled a double crater and I wondered if I’d see ‘the hidden people’ there. Later, I asked Oli if he believed in elves. ‘You never know,’ he said. ‘There are many stories about the elves where they help people and vice versa but if you do something intentionally bad against them, they’ll punish you.’ Once, the locals stopped a road from being built because it would require moving a large boulder in which elves were said to live. In the end, they left the boulder untouched and built the road around it.

Fish, being so fresh and available, is a staple of Iceland. A classical lunch could be smoked lamb, cod mousse and dried cod served with buttermilk and potato chips followed by a creamy fish soup with halibut, cream, butter, raisins and apples.

cIelandic Fish Soup with secret recipe

Margie Goldsmith

I’m not a fish soup fan, but this was so delicious that I asked the waitress for the recipe. She smiled but wouldn’t tell me. It was a 100-year-old family secret, she said.

Iceland’s largest and most famous church, Hallgrímskirkja, whose tower can be seen from everywhere in the city, is one of Reykjavík’s best-known landmarks. When I was there, someone was playing the gargantuan 49-foot-high pipe organ and the rich sound echoed throughout the church. Eighty percent of Icelanders are members of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church though few attend services or consider themselves religious.

One of 350 Lutheran Churches in Iceland

Margie Goldsmith

Still, there are 350 Lutheran churches in the country including in the smallest villages. I took the elevator to the top of the 239-foot church tower offering a 360° view over all of Reykjavík: the snow-capped mountains, the North Atlantic Ocean and the colorful houses which from here looked like Lego blocks.

View of Reykjavík from the top of Hallgrímskirkja Church

Margie Goldsmith

My hotel was the brand-new Reykjavik Konsulat, a former 1900’s department store now renovated and just a short walk to the main shopping street and restaurants. When I asked the front desk for a street map, they said I couldn’t get lost because all I had to do was ask for the H&M, a block away, and everyone would know where to direct me. I wandered through shops selling T-shirts, jewelry, woolen Icelandic sweaters and sheep blankets, but the prices were exorbitant: $60 for the cheapest copper necklace. Then I learned that Iceland is considered one of the world’s most expensive destinations with costly food, lodging and liquor. They keep the prices high because they know tourists will pay to see, as Oli put it, ‘Iceland’s five-star nature.’

'Five-star nature in iceland'

Margie Goldmith

Many people come here hoping to experience the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), best seen from September to late March. We drove out of town to the remote Hotel Ranga, first for a dinner of mouth-watering fresh reindeer carpaccio followed by the best langoustine ever (Icelandic lobster with no claws, and much tastier than Maine lobster).

Langoustine (clawless lobster) at Hotel Ranga in Iceland

Margie Goldsmith

Then we walked over to the Hotel’s Observatory with a retractable roof and two powerful telescopes. While I loved seeing massive stars through the telescopes, I was disappointed because it was cloudy and looked as though there would be no Northern Lights. Suddenly, a huge swirling wispy white pattern danced across the sky. It wasn’t the green I’d seen in photographs, but it was the Northern Lights and I was mesmerized.

Black Sand beach, South Iceland

Margie Goldsmith

The next day Oli drove me to the 197-foot-high Skogáfoss waterfall and the Reynisfjara black sand beach of South Iceland with crashing Atlantic waves and enormous basalt stacks. According to folklore, once upon a time the basalt columns were trolls trying to pull ships to shore, but the trolls went out too late in the night and when dawn broke on the horizon, they’d been turned into stone.

Basalt Rocks

Margie Goldsmith

Surrounded by vast highlands and mountains, the Skalakot Family Farm in the center of South Iceland is one of 9,700 farms in the country and includes a small hotel and restaurant. The 6th generation owners breed sheep and Icelandic horses which are small but powerful and have five gaits. I disliked the trotting gait but loved galloping with a guide to a huge waterfall. Coming back, I listened to the silence when suddenly I heard a humming sound. ‘That’s the sound of a milking machine,’ the guide said. ‘Here, cows are milked by robots with a microchip.’ I guess ‘five-star nature’ has to keep up with technology.

Riding an Icelandic horse to a waterfall

Margie Goldsmith

No trip to Iceland is complete without walking on a glacier and going inside an ice cavern, but to get there, you drive on a dirt road and cross rivers, impossible without a four-wheel vehicle. Suddenly we were in a white out -- not that it mattered, because for an hour, we hadn’t seen another car on the road.

From inside an ice cave

Margie Goldsmith

Eventually, the white out cleared and we were on the Kotlujokull ice cap, part of a glacier centered around a volcano. There we met our glacier guide who handed us headlamps and crampons (spikey coverings for boots to get a good grip on the ice)and headed over the snowy trail to an ice cavern, ascended some wooden steps, and pulled ourselves up on a rope. In this particular cave, discovered just two years ago, we were surrounded by ice above, below and on both sides. I expected the ice to be blue, which is how it appears when air bubbles are squeezed out and ice crystals enlarge, but the entire cave looked like a black and white photograph, mysterious and other-worldly.

Frozen ice cave

Marge Goldsmith

I spent my last day at the Blue Lagoon– not the one that most tourists visit, but the brand-new Retreat at Blue Lagoon with its own lagoon, sauna, steam room and a series of glass-enclosed relaxation rooms overlooking the steamy turquoise water. After soaking in the hot steamy lagoon for a good half hour, I felt more relaxed then I’d ever been in my life. I shuffled inside to try the the Blue Lagoon ritual; first a mineral salt/lava, then a silica mask. After I washed that off, I was given an algae body mask, and after showering, a generous dose of oil to coat my entire body. I floated into the Retreat’s Spa Restaurant's light-splashed dining room for my final Icelandic lunch: birch and juniper cured Arctic char followed by smoked haddock, one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

Blue Lagoon Retreat Spa

Blue Lagoon Retreat Spa

Most flights to America depart late in the afternoon so there was time for one more visit: a drive through ‘Shipwreck Alley’ in the Grindavik coast area where every 500 or so yards is another shipwreck. In the old days, fishermen were chosen for their strength because they had to row out to the boat, particularly grueling in strong waves. In order to be chosen, the men had to pick up a rock, the lightest of which was 100 pounds and the heaviest, from 330 to almost 400 pounds. The heavier rock a man could pick up, the bigger boat he’d get and the more experienced fishermen to make his job easier.

Stat of 'Hidden People'

Margie Goldsmith

On the way to the airport, I saw the strangest site: on top of a hill overlooking the city were four stone statues. Oli sad they represented the hidden people.’ I’d like to think they just popped up to say goodbye.

'Hidden Person' in Iceland

Margie Goldsmith

Margie Goldsmith is a NYC-based travel, lifestyle and culture writer who has been to 140 countries on 7 continents. Follow her on twitter @margiegoldsmith